Gem and Mineral Show opens today

Get ready to be bedazzled by a bounty of gems and minerals at the annual Rock, Gem and Mineral Show to be held today and Sunday at the Student Center at Highland Community College.

By Jane Lethlean

Journal Standard

By Jane Lethlean

Posted Nov. 9, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 9, 2012 at 8:23 AM

By Jane Lethlean

Posted Nov. 9, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 9, 2012 at 8:23 AM

Freeport, Ill.

Get ready to be bedazzled by a bounty of gems and minerals at the annual Rock, Gem and Mineral Show to be held today and Sunday at the Student Center at Highland Community College.

Vendors will be selling fossils, minerals, gemstones, jewelry and beads. There will be displays, demonstrations, speakers and a children’s area, where children can watch a geode be opened. Show hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The event is open to the public. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted.

A Rockin’ Time

Steve Simpson, a geology instructor at HCC, said he looks forward to this annual event. Simpson said there are plenty of people in this area who collect gems and have an interest in seeing fossils. The event is sponsored by the Northwest Illinois Rock Club.

“The great thing about having an event like this is to create awareness for rocks, minerals and fossils,” Simpson said. “It’s a great way to highlight the natural beauty of what nature creates and what artists can do with these gems and fossils.

“Much of what people will see is quite exotic and comes from all over the world,” he added.

There will be speakers on a variety of topics. Plus, there will be meteorites for people to see, and they will learn how these meteorites play a key role in the solar system.

Today

10:30 a.m. — Steve Simpson will explain the Mars Science Laboratory. He will talk about the biggest, best and newest robot geologists on Mars. He will also talk about what scientists are learning about the environment on the Red Planet.

1:30 p.m. — Aaron Laurent, an HCC alumnus and Beloit College student, will speak on the metamorphism of the Maroon Formation near Cathedral Lake in Colorado.

3:30 p.m. — Scott Williams, collections manager at the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, will talk about what the museum does and about the Burpee Museum’s New Decade of Paleo-Discoveries.